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‘Did you indeed?’ Nicholas sounded amused.
The fact that her attempt to be businesslike somehow amused him galled her deeply, and somehow that anger helped to suppress the weak feelings of inevitability as she turned to look at him.
‘Don’t patronize me, Nicholas,’ she said quietly. ‘I’ve come here to discuss business with you. And you promised me an answer before the end of the day, as I recall.’
‘Yes, I did, and I am a man of my word.’ His dark eyes held hers steadily. ‘But the day isn’t over yet.’
Her hands curled into tight fists at her sides. ‘Why are you—playing with me like this?’
He smiled at that.
‘So what’s the score, Nicholas?’ she whispered huskily. ‘I give myself to you and in return I get the contract for the commercial? Is that how you do business?’
As soon as the words left her lips she regretted them. They conjured a scornful anger in his eyes that lashed against her raw senses.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, Cat, but no, that is not how I do business.’ There was harsh derision in those words. ‘If you remember, I was the one to insist we got business out of the way before we enjoy ourselves, but maybe that kind of strategy is more your style?’
He watched her skin flare with furious heat. ‘How dare you suggest that?’
He had to admit that he liked her tenacity, liked the way her head tilted upwards and her eyes flared with almost regal pride. Was she capable of using all of her charms including her considerable beauty, to get what she wanted? Probably, he conceded grimly. She was considering marriage purely to get her hands on her inheritance, he reminded himself—she was a McKenzie. She was a woman.
‘A word of warning,’ he said smoothly. ‘Don’t dish out what you can’t take.’
Cat’s eyes blazed with fury and for a moment she just wanted to turn around and leave the room. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Running away wasn’t going to get her the contract—and she supposed she had hurled the first insult. ‘Are you going to sign this contract?’
‘No, I’m not.’
The cool words hit her like a blow to her solar plexus. Deep down she had been so sure that he liked her ideas—in fact this evening she had almost taken it as a foregone conclusion that they would be going ahead. ‘Why not?’
‘Because the contract you have with you is for a series of three different commercials and, as I stated specifically from the beginning, I want to walk with this idea before I run.’
‘Oh!’ She felt her body relax and relief pound through her. He wasn’t telling her he didn’t want the campaign, just that he didn’t want to make such a big commitment to it—yet. ‘Well, I did bring a contract solely for the first advert—just in case.’
‘Very wise.’ He shook his head and came closer to her and she could see a grudging respect for her in his eyes. ‘You make a worthy adversary, Catherine McKenzie.’ As he spoke he reached out and touched her face.
A worthy adversary—she didn’t think he was referring to business now, but to the fact that she was probably the first woman in a long time to try to resist him. He viewed her as an opponent to be conquered and, judging by the gleam in his eye, he also now assumed because of her weakness earlier this evening that the battle was over.
‘Well, I would advise that you don’t underestimate me,’ she breathed softly.
‘Oh, I can assure you that I have no intention of doing that.’ Something about the way he was touching her and the huskily soft words struck a chord inside her. His eyes locked with hers before moving hungrily towards her mouth. And suddenly unwelcome thoughts were plundering through her mind. She didn’t want to be his adversary … She wanted to be as close to him as she could get … She wanted him so badly it hurt—
Swiftly she closed the torture of her needs away. She wasn’t going to be driven by sexual desire into surrendering her control. No man—and certainly not one as arrogantly confident as Nicholas Zentenas—was going to exert that power over her.
Hastily she pulled away from him. ‘We need to get this wrapped up.’ She turned to search blindly through her briefcase. ‘I have the relevant contract somewhere in here,’ she mumbled.
Nicholas noticed that her hands weren’t at all steady and he smiled to himself.
‘Ah, yes—here it is.’ She pulled out a file like a conjurer. ‘Do you want to read it?’
He laughed at that. ‘Of course I want to read it.’
‘It is all in order.’ She watched as he calmly took it from her and scanned the details.
Silence descended and she found herself holding her breath. This was what was important to her, she told herself fiercely. This would be her first major deal and so, hopefully, the beginning of a more settled phase in her life—a flourishing career away from her family, her debts little by little repaid and, most of all, complete independence.
‘Have you got a pen?’ He asked quietly after a moment.
Their eyes met and she smiled. Then hastily she turned to scrabble in her bag to find one.
